


Going Back To Hogwarts

by nhasablog



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Past Character Death, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 12:04:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11967009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nhasablog/pseuds/nhasablog
Summary: “He’s the one who’s been silent for the majority of the train ride!” Ron replied, pointing at Harry as if he’d really said those things to the twins. “Don’t blame us for this.”“Ron, you do know that-” Harry started, but George interrupted him.“And why, exactly, have you turned into a librarian?” He gave his shoulders a shake as he spoke.(Or, Harry keeps thinking of his parents during the train journey to Hogwarts, and then Fred and George join their compartment.)





	Going Back To Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> I just HAD to write something on the very date of the epilogue. HAD to.

The Hogwarts Express was magical in its own way. It didn’t turn invisible or fly or talk to its passengers, but they all knew it wasn’t just a regular train that took them to and from school every year. Parents waving their kids goodbye could feel it as soon as they stepped foot onto the platform again after having been away from it for many years. They could feel the familiarity, the  _home_ of it all and knew they were putting their children on the safest transportation of them all.

James and Lily never got to see Harry off, but Harry could almost feel their ghosts whenever he sat down in a compartment for the long journey to his favorite place. The fact that he didn’t know just  _where_ his parents and their friends had sat made it better, because they could have been sitting in this very spot, and no one could take that notion away from him because there was no proof of the opposite. Harry had been so bewildered during his first few journeys to Hogwarts, because they were anything but quiet, but this year was different, which gave him time to reflect on things he didn’t always allow himself to think of. Outside, the world flew by. Inside, his classmates never once settled down and people kept passing their door constantly. Sometimes they even stopped to talk, but Harry wasn’t entirely present for any of it, and his friends noticed.

“Are you okay, Harry?” Hermione asked, her eyebrows furrowed with concern when he looked up at her.

“Oh. Yes, sorry. I was lost in thought,” he replied, shaking it off as best as he could.

“Oh, really? We didn’t notice since you’re always this quiet and staring off into space.”

Ron had a grin on his lips that Harry couldn’t resist, so he grinned back. “Shut up, Ron.”

“Yeah, shut up, Ron,” Fred and George said in unison, having suddenly appeared in their compartment and settled down beside Harry.

Ron huffed, but didn’t grant their words any bigger response. “Who invited you?”

“We invited ourselves,” George said, slinging an arm over Harry’s shoulders. “But I could hear poor Harry silently begging us to come and lighten the mood.”

“Apparently you two have been slowly killing him with boredom,” Fred added with a mock serious look in Ron and Hermione’s direction.

“He’s the one who’s been silent for the majority of the train ride!” Ron replied, pointing at Harry as if he’d really said those things to the twins. “Don’t blame us for this.”

“Ron, you do know that-” Harry started, but George interrupted him.

“And why, exactly, have you turned into a librarian?” He gave his shoulders a shake as he spoke.

Harry heard Ron and Hermione snicker at the metaphor. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“That can be dangerous. Do you need help to get it out? I’m sure you feel awful with a full head like that.” George grabbed his ear and made a move to peek into it, but Harry pulled his head away with a laugh. “Don’t move, Harry, this is important.”

Harry, who hadn’t laughed properly all day, was thrown into a giggle fit as George swirled a finger around his ear, and it was only when he nearly slammed his head into the window that the older boy stopped, but the grin he was wearing was anything but calming.

“You know, Ron is also ticklish on his ears. It’s ridiculous, but good for us since it’s such an accessible spot.”

“Hey!”

“Quiet, Ron, we’re speaking to Harry.”

Harry, in turn, had gone completely red, but fortunately they decided not to comment on it. Perks of not being related, he reckoned. But the smug and somewhat curious expressions that were directed his way weren’t much better.

Fred leaned over George to get a closer look of him. “Say, Harry, do you happen to be sensitive anywhere else?”

“Guys, come on,” he said, trying and failing to scoot away from them a bit.

“Hey, where are you going, huh?”

“Yeah, Harry, where are you going?”

And before he could even open his mouth the compartment was filled with laughter as the twins suddenly pounced on their little brother, leaving them all blinking in surprise. Well, okay, Ron had a harder time showing his bewilderment due to his current predicament.

“Why mehehe?!” he exclaimed as Fred made him recoil so hard that his head landed in Hermione’s lap, which was a sight in itself.

“Because you’re the more fun victim, and we can go as hard as we want.”

Hermione was giggling across from Harry, looking utterly amused by the whole situation. Harry just felt relieved, if he was going to be frank, but even he had to grin as he took in his best friend laughing hysterically.

“Don’t look so smug, Harry, we’ll get you one day.”

That wiped the smile right off of his face.

In another time, so many years ago, a similar thing was happening in this exact compartment, with a boy who looked a lot like Harry, but the only redhead was the girl leaning against the door, smiling despite herself as she watched the playful scene play out before her. Harry didn’t know this, of course, but he still felt  _something_ when the twins let Ron go and they all settled down again. He still felt  _something_ when Ginny and Neville joined them, shoulders pressed against shoulders as they all barely fit. He felt something he couldn’t explain as they all talked and laughed their way through the journey, but it was a pleasant feeling, albeit foreign. Or maybe it wasn’t foreign at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my [tumblr](http://nhasablog.tumblr.com).


End file.
